Dear Shaded Viewers,
The Gwand Sustainable Fashion Festival did not take place this past July during Paris Haute Couture due to COVID. A new plan was put into action bringing Gwand back to where it all began, Lucerne, Switzerland.
The Gwand Festival took place in Lucerne for 11 years. In the beginning Gwand was a local event that grew into an international festival which offered the largest financial award of any other fashion festival at that time it was a prize of 100,000 EUROS. The most break through winner at Gwand was none other than Raf Simons in 2003 who showed his face for the first time when he walked down the catwalk with his two assistants, one of them is now the creative director at Azzedine Alaia, Pieter Mulier, . The focus of Gwand has always been on promoting emerging fashion talents. With the impact of climate change and increasing social tensions, Gwand felt a need to focus on how the fashion industry can impact the planet by focusing on the issue of sustainability.
The purpose of Gwand is to raise awareness and promote and enforce actions in terms of sustainability in all areas of life. The aim is to preserve and improve life on our planet:
+ Promoting sustainability in all areas of life
+ Promoting fair living and working conditions as well as fair economic and trade relations.
+ Promotion of environmental protection and protection of our livelihoods.
+ Promoting the responsible use of natural resources and a resource conserving economy.
+ Promotion of environmental education and sustainable awareness in schools and outside schools.
The Gwand Sustainable Festival 2021 in Lucerne will take place in open-air. In the event of a Covid lockdown, the Gwand will only take place on-air. The Open- and On-Air Gwand:
+ Open-Air market for sustainable products, designers and craftspeople from all sectors. In addition there will be sustainable innovations and food stalls and lounges between the market stalls.
+ On-Air Gwand Stage digital sales platform which will be the digital version of the Open-Air Market.
+ Open-Air Panels to discuss sustainable innovations, processes and solutions
+ Open-Air: Launch of Bio Design Hubs, Open-Air Workshops and Panels
+ Open-Air Fashion Show and possibly Award Ceremony for 4-6 nominated international sustainable fashion designers
+ On-Air: Expert Pre-Nomination Jury: Pre-Nomination Event in Milan
+ Open-Air: Expert jury at the event
+ Open-air concerts and comedy performances at the marketplace
+ On-Air: Live Streaming: Direct broadcast via media and technology partners to digitally accompany the festival and market.
The sustainable designers will present a catwalk show. Each of the award candidates will be introduced in a short video before their part of the show. The award ceremony will take place on the stage of the music pavilion, where the winners and the award sponsors will be introduced and interviewed. The catwalk and stage will be kept simple and LED lighting effects will be used to create an unforgettable atmosphere at dusk, against the beautiful backdrop of the pavilion, the lake and the mountains. The effect created by the interplay with nature in the open air is intended to leave a lasting impression.
Read more about the festival and the participants here.
